Trailtracker
New member
Hunting anything here in Nebraska has been less than ideal with the way above normal high temps we've been experiencing for the past few weeks.
I've been thinking more about spring time fishing (but it's not time yet) than hunting as of late.
A bit of Cabin Fever has set in, because it seems all that I do these days is work, work and work some more only to spend my free time stuck tinkering on stuff around my home and shop.
However, that all changed the other night as that Canadian Jet Stream finally got back on track by sending us some cold air our way.
At first, I thought it to be a little field mouse that just wanted to stay a few nights in my almost new Kenmore gas stove/oven to get warm and perhaps grab a couple crumbs to eat. A few scratching noises inside the walls of the oven in the middle of the night was enough to keep my veteran mouse slaying cat's attention. I felt it was a matter of time when the cat would rack up another kill to add to his already lengthy resume. So I hardly gave it thought and went on with my normal activities thinking that the cat had it all under control.
That was until I saw IT......
The first time I saw the Rat was when I turned the oven on high to cook up one of those DiGornio pizzas. As soon as the oven was pre-heated to the right temp, I go to open the oven door to place the pizza on the center rack, is when I caught that big sucker trying escape from the back of the oven to under the kitchen sink into a hole where the plumbing leads to the crawl space under the house.
I can't stand this, a rodent in the house and I can't believe it's a rat to boot. I'm not going to wait nor allow for the cat to do battle with this monster by himself. It's going to take a team effort. A team which included myself, the cat, and my Chocolate Labrador Retriever.
The hunt is on......
Well, since the rat has been run out of it's hideout for the night, I decide to let things go until the next night hoping that it will return having forgot our first encounter.
That night I devise my plan of attack......
I get home the next night and sure enough I hear the same scratching and movement with in the walls of the oven.
It has returned.
Game on.
I quickly gather my already prepared pieces of plywood to set up a perimeter to seal off it's escape route and give me an opportunity to snipe this vermin with a pellet gun in an open area of the kitchen floor looking for a place to escape to. The plywood has been strategically placed. The oven is turned on to it's highest setting. The cat is stationed on the opposite end of the oven to cover the only other escape route. Myself positioned 5 yards away from the oven with my retreiver at my side expecting some type of retreiving opportunity, we are all in position.
The oven creaks and groans as the temperature starts to rise. Then, I hear the first signs of the unwelcome visitor starting to become uncomfortable with it's hotter surroundings.
I detect movement.
I see the head poke out around my side of the oven, then quickly dissappears back behind the oven.
The cat smells it but does not detect the movement on my side.
The cat and lab hold their positions.
I prepare to take the shot as soon a full broadside view of the rat is visible.
My heart races with anticipation because I know I've planned this mission well. It's just going to take the execution of good shot with the pellet gun to end this unwanted house guest's stay.
Then it happens.....
The rat makes a run on it's escape route only to be thwarted by the plywood blockade.
The rat stands bewildered by it's situation and is motionless......
Thwhack !! is the sound of the .177 caliber pellet leaving the muzzle of the Crossman air rifle at about 650 fps.
Imagine if you will, those hit shots on deer, that make it jump straight up in the air, then run off a bit to be found dead a few yards later.
Well this rat did the same thing when I hit it and then attempted to quickly retreat back towards the oven.
However, it didn't make it back very far, because the cat was on it like "flies on poop".
The rat had some life left in it because a battle ensued with the cat. It was a proud moment for me as I watched the cat engaged in combat with the enemy. If was a fast sporadic fight. The rat was holding his own but was no match for my little white lion. The rat was losing this battle because my well aimed pellet had done it's damage. The rat made one last attempt at escaping. It mangaged to free itself from the death grip the cat had place on it and was rapidily heading towards the open area on the opposite side of the oven hoping to seek refuge on that side of the oven. If it made it back inside the oven, I may have a difficult time getting it out (dead or alive) of the inner workings of the oven walls.
The rat just about made it, but out of nowhere on a flat out sprint, my 80 pound retreiving machine snatched the rodent and had him clutched in his powerful jaws. I could hear the rodents little bones start to break under the immense pressure. It was over, the battle was won.
The Lab reversed his course with rat in mouth and took his usual position by my side ready to release the now vanquished rodent to my possesion. I reluctantly grabbed the rat by his tail, said thank you to my Lab and to my cat for this victory. The dead rat was posed on my shop floor for the picture of proof. I didn't waste any time trying determine where my shot hit. I think the neck wound is from my Lab when he applied his vise like jaws to the rat. I simply deposited it in the dumpster behind my house. Good riddins' .
Pet treats were handed out to my hunting companions and a Diet Pepsi was opened for me in celebration.
Who knew that hunting indoors could be such an adventure ??
I should add....
As with all hunts that end with a kill, there was some work to be done.
I'm well aware of the possibility of this rodent may be carrying any number of diseases, fleas,or other infestations. I'm also aware that that there could be more.
I live near storage bins for grain and rats and some other pests are a common sight.
Fortunately, this rat was a loner. Subsequent inspection inside my crawl space revealed no evidence of another critter.
The oven and the route where the rat travelled have all been cleaned up and disinfected.
Poison and or/traps will be deployed in the following days.
"This house is clean" and so are my hands. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
click image for details
I've been thinking more about spring time fishing (but it's not time yet) than hunting as of late.
A bit of Cabin Fever has set in, because it seems all that I do these days is work, work and work some more only to spend my free time stuck tinkering on stuff around my home and shop.
However, that all changed the other night as that Canadian Jet Stream finally got back on track by sending us some cold air our way.
At first, I thought it to be a little field mouse that just wanted to stay a few nights in my almost new Kenmore gas stove/oven to get warm and perhaps grab a couple crumbs to eat. A few scratching noises inside the walls of the oven in the middle of the night was enough to keep my veteran mouse slaying cat's attention. I felt it was a matter of time when the cat would rack up another kill to add to his already lengthy resume. So I hardly gave it thought and went on with my normal activities thinking that the cat had it all under control.
That was until I saw IT......
The first time I saw the Rat was when I turned the oven on high to cook up one of those DiGornio pizzas. As soon as the oven was pre-heated to the right temp, I go to open the oven door to place the pizza on the center rack, is when I caught that big sucker trying escape from the back of the oven to under the kitchen sink into a hole where the plumbing leads to the crawl space under the house.
I can't stand this, a rodent in the house and I can't believe it's a rat to boot. I'm not going to wait nor allow for the cat to do battle with this monster by himself. It's going to take a team effort. A team which included myself, the cat, and my Chocolate Labrador Retriever.
The hunt is on......
Well, since the rat has been run out of it's hideout for the night, I decide to let things go until the next night hoping that it will return having forgot our first encounter.
That night I devise my plan of attack......
I get home the next night and sure enough I hear the same scratching and movement with in the walls of the oven.
It has returned.
Game on.
I quickly gather my already prepared pieces of plywood to set up a perimeter to seal off it's escape route and give me an opportunity to snipe this vermin with a pellet gun in an open area of the kitchen floor looking for a place to escape to. The plywood has been strategically placed. The oven is turned on to it's highest setting. The cat is stationed on the opposite end of the oven to cover the only other escape route. Myself positioned 5 yards away from the oven with my retreiver at my side expecting some type of retreiving opportunity, we are all in position.
The oven creaks and groans as the temperature starts to rise. Then, I hear the first signs of the unwelcome visitor starting to become uncomfortable with it's hotter surroundings.
I detect movement.
I see the head poke out around my side of the oven, then quickly dissappears back behind the oven.
The cat smells it but does not detect the movement on my side.
The cat and lab hold their positions.
I prepare to take the shot as soon a full broadside view of the rat is visible.
My heart races with anticipation because I know I've planned this mission well. It's just going to take the execution of good shot with the pellet gun to end this unwanted house guest's stay.
Then it happens.....
The rat makes a run on it's escape route only to be thwarted by the plywood blockade.
The rat stands bewildered by it's situation and is motionless......
Thwhack !! is the sound of the .177 caliber pellet leaving the muzzle of the Crossman air rifle at about 650 fps.
Imagine if you will, those hit shots on deer, that make it jump straight up in the air, then run off a bit to be found dead a few yards later.
Well this rat did the same thing when I hit it and then attempted to quickly retreat back towards the oven.
However, it didn't make it back very far, because the cat was on it like "flies on poop".
The rat had some life left in it because a battle ensued with the cat. It was a proud moment for me as I watched the cat engaged in combat with the enemy. If was a fast sporadic fight. The rat was holding his own but was no match for my little white lion. The rat was losing this battle because my well aimed pellet had done it's damage. The rat made one last attempt at escaping. It mangaged to free itself from the death grip the cat had place on it and was rapidily heading towards the open area on the opposite side of the oven hoping to seek refuge on that side of the oven. If it made it back inside the oven, I may have a difficult time getting it out (dead or alive) of the inner workings of the oven walls.
The rat just about made it, but out of nowhere on a flat out sprint, my 80 pound retreiving machine snatched the rodent and had him clutched in his powerful jaws. I could hear the rodents little bones start to break under the immense pressure. It was over, the battle was won.
The Lab reversed his course with rat in mouth and took his usual position by my side ready to release the now vanquished rodent to my possesion. I reluctantly grabbed the rat by his tail, said thank you to my Lab and to my cat for this victory. The dead rat was posed on my shop floor for the picture of proof. I didn't waste any time trying determine where my shot hit. I think the neck wound is from my Lab when he applied his vise like jaws to the rat. I simply deposited it in the dumpster behind my house. Good riddins' .
Pet treats were handed out to my hunting companions and a Diet Pepsi was opened for me in celebration.
Who knew that hunting indoors could be such an adventure ??
I should add....
As with all hunts that end with a kill, there was some work to be done.
I'm well aware of the possibility of this rodent may be carrying any number of diseases, fleas,or other infestations. I'm also aware that that there could be more.
I live near storage bins for grain and rats and some other pests are a common sight.
Fortunately, this rat was a loner. Subsequent inspection inside my crawl space revealed no evidence of another critter.
The oven and the route where the rat travelled have all been cleaned up and disinfected.
Poison and or/traps will be deployed in the following days.
"This house is clean" and so are my hands. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
click image for details
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